The National Union of Early Childhood Professionals called for the strike Thursday, February 2, 2023. This strike was mainly followed in the capital, but that did not prevent some employees of the crib Pearly and Sweet from Caen University Hospital (Calvados), to join the mobilization at the local level.

As Laurence, a nursery nurse, one of the participants in the disengagement caennais:

The objective is to support the early childhood sector in general, the demands are not specifically linked to this structure.

Strike in Caen: “means to do our job better”

This sentence demonstrates an improvement in the situation in this establishment. In 2021, parents testified to the poor childcare in the nursery. Today the problems are “behind us”, explains Laurence.

On the other hand, more general issues affect the industry early childhood : wages too low, lack of staff, overly restrictive schedules and lack of training. As Barbara, 33, childcare worker, points out:

There is a lack of training on specific topics, such as disability, learning sign language, or managing aggressive children. We are just asking for the means to do our job better.

Legislation recommends an auxiliary childcare worker to take care of 5 babies, or one for 8 children (up to 3 years old). Too little for the strikers who want more means. “For example, if two colleagues are taking care of 10 babies, and one is trying to put one to sleep, the other has to manage 9 babies! You imagine ! “.

Lack of recognition

The other aspect mentioned is the lack of recognition early childhood professions. For example, as Laurence tells us, this sector is not affected by the Premier Segurgiven to caregivers and certain social workers, in the amount of €183 per month.

The hardship of the job is not recognized, the crèche is not just a daycare center, we have the responsibility to work on the awakening of the child.

An environment very affected by the future pension reform

In the middle of a debate about the future pension reformthe early childhood sector is directly hit. For a simple and good reason, early childhood is made up almost exclusively of women. “At home, we have 100% women in the workforce,” explains Barbara.

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